


Case 4: A Reaper's Duty

by Ashendaria



Series: HoloMyth Origins [4]
Category: HoloEN, Hololive, HololiveEN, holoMyth
Genre: Descent into Madness, Gen, Grim Reapers, Lovecraftian, Mystery, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:36:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashendaria/pseuds/Ashendaria
Summary: The story of Mori Calliope, Grim Reaper of the Underworld, before she joined the Hololive group. Episode 4 of the Holomyth series.As a Grim Reaper, Calli meets untold number of people during her missions, often with a single, obvious ending. But one day, she is given a new target to reap: Atlas, the master of the lost city of Atlantis. A man who has lived beyond his time, who is related to several other girls. Girls that Calli never met, but who she will unite her destiny too in the future.Follow Calli as she forges, with Scythe, guns and wine, the beginning of the legend that will be the Holomyth alliance!
Series: HoloMyth Origins [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992346
Kudos: 28





	Case 4: A Reaper's Duty

**T**

Slowly walking along a muddy road, in the middle of a small, poor village, was a single black horse, mounted by a single black rider. The horse had an impressive allure. It’s muscles were well defined, his coat was short and well-shaved, and the only thing missing to make it a living proof of wealth to his owner was a coat of arms, which he had none. It was, in all its simplicity, a healthy and magnificent black horse.

The rider, as well, didn’t seemed intent on showing anything about him or herself. Whoever he may be, he was covered in long black clothes, not much different than clothes a priest would wear, up to the long black hood covering his face and hairs. A strange long stick, also black, was secured on his back, and a dangerous-looking blade, folded along it, seemed to swallow the light from the sun, appearing gray and dull despite the vivid noon.

In the primitive village, the rider was going on slowly, but surely, aware of his position and of his destination. He didn’t look at anyone, and most people seemed not to see him either no matter how close to them he sometimes rode. He stopped in front of an old, dilapidated house of wood. Small and abused by the sands of time, the construction seemed ready to fall to the ground, in pieces of moldy wood.

“\- And yet the house will survive it’s owner.”

The whisper indicated that the rider was, in fact, female. No other villager had heard this whisper, though, and most had already forgotten the very existence of the stranger in their midst, so her coming in this place, as always, would stay secret.

She tied her horse on a nearby wooden post, not that it was necessary, as it was perfectly obedient and wouldn’t move any of it’s nonexisten t muscle for as long as her Mistress wouldn’t come back. But appearances mattered.

Slowly, one leather boot after another on the damp ground, she reached the door and opened  it .  No one was waiting for her on the threshold, and no one was surprised either. She closed the door behind and walked on the dusty wood, until she exited the main corridor into one of the two main room: the dining room.

It was currently winter, and very cold. The visitor didn’t seem to care at all, neither did her horse, but the rest of the people did, as evidence by the fact a generous fire was roaring inside a small hearth. Seemed like a serious fire hazard to the visitor, but she hadn’t checked i f death by fire was the reason for her visit, so she didn’t say anything.

“\- Once again, right here at lunchtime. If her Darkness did actually need to eat, I would feel honored about my cooking abilities.”

She looked away from the fire toward the origin of the voice. As expected, she saw a tall, emaciated man with glasses and short brown hair walking toward her from near a massive bookcase. The visitor reached to her hood and pulled it back, revealing long, flowing black hair and a smooth, beautiful face with red eyes, a small mouth with black lipstick, and a white skin tone. A small chain circled her neck, from witch also hanged a small grayish skull of metal, making for a macabre necklace.

“\- I can still eat if it makes you happy, but I don’t need to. How are you my man? You don’t look that good.

\- You of  all would know of my health better than anyone. And of my time left on this world, isn’t it?

\- And you know that I can’t tell anything about any of that, just come and reap you when it’s time.

\- Is it time, since you’re there? Or is it just another day for us to talk and drink?

\-  As usual, just drink, talk about magik, the future, all of this.

\- I don’t recall you usually coming with your scythe just to talk.

The woman almost answered, then stopped, blushing slightly. She  opened her mouth again, wavering a bit.

\- Guh… Maybe a little of both then? Listen I can’t say anything before the last five minutes of life, it’s the rules, but we have time to speak I promise.  My presence here is just a bit illegal, nothing much.

-What a day to wake up to. Oh well, it’s not like I didn’t expect this to happen at some point. My children left the village and live a good life, my wife is already dead, and my health is deteriorating as I grow old. The cycle of life.

The woman removed her black dress and let it rest on a chair, revealing her leather armor, daggers on her  waist , and as a whole a  very fine outfit for adventuring and traveling. She then answered.

\- Well as a Reaper, the cycle of life is not really something I go through. Mostly go along the ways and help people exit it when their time come. But yeah you seems like a fine lad with a good life. Oh by the way, I enjoyed all of our talks in the past.

\- Ah, you did? I’m glad I was able to get the attention of one of the legendary Reapers. I worked hard on my studies, I’m glad they paid off. Would you like something to drink as I explain to you my latest discoveries, Lady Calliope?

\- Got alcohol?

\- Of course. I knew you were coming, after all.

\- You just didn’t know it was the last time. Something I’m not supposed to say.

\- Indeed. I’ll be back in a minute. This calls for  a high quality wine.  The best I have.

Calli nodded, then brought two chairs near the hearth. Waiting for her host, she went to a window and opened it slightly, looking outside. A fine snow was now falling, and most people were either working or hiding in their homes, away from the cold. It had been a harsh year. A new illness, the Black Death, had been going hard on humanity this year. The Reapers had to work more than ever. Calli barely had time for a rest: when there wasn’t the need to bring another dead in the Underworld, then the young Reapers went for a Hunt. More and more scavenger appeared in the Underworld, looking for souls to eat, and the Reapers were tasked with their extermination, to allow the souls of the dead the possibility of reincarnation.

But, rarely, when Calli got a few hours to spare, she enjoyed going to the surface.  This little French village, in the vicinity of Bordeaux, where she was now , was one of her favorite place to spend some time in. Not only did they have delicious wine, but the man she visited, Leon, had also become a good friend of her. As a scholar and a Magik researcher, he had ways to stimulate Calli’s lust for knowledge and mysteries.

\- Here I am, Lady Calliope. I’ve been  carefully  keeping this bottle for  twenty  years, for some great occasion. With this, I will be the only one to willingly open a bottle to cheer on my death, to share a drink with the Reaper that came to take me.

\- Said like this, you’re indeed a rarity. I blame you and all of your damn stories about Magik and Destiny. You always have something interesting to tell me.

\- And today is no exception. Here, the wine, my Lady. I hope you will enjoy it.

\- Thank you, Leon. To your death!

\- And to my  past  life,  good she was !

They both raised their mostly clean glasses full of beautiful red wine, and drank. Calli smiled happily, enjoying the delicious taste  of an old, well conserved wine , and Leon seemed quite proud of her reaction, knowing he chose the good bottle.

\- Delicious.  I’ll t ake another one for the trip to the Underworld later on. So, what did you want to tell me Leon?

\- Ah, yes. The discovery. You have visited me for years now, and we’ve talked about all matter of things, but mostly Magik. Well, I recently got a strange book in my collection.

\- More than the others?

\- Far more. “The return of the Old Ones”, by  Abdul Alhazred, the legendary Mad Arab of old. An ancient man, a savant , author of many madness-inducing books of forbidden knowledge.

\- Wait I think I remember this guy. I wasn’t the Reaper assigned to him, it was a class S reaping, reserved for the strongest of us. We have specialists for those cases, the man was a fanatic believing in dark entities of terrible powers.  A Reaping can go very wrong for everyone in those cases.

\- Indeed, my Lady. Alhazred authored multiple books, the most well known and well censored being the famous Necronomicon. It is said simply reading it is enough to push a man into insanity.

\- So maybe it’s the fact you read one of his books that made me come to get you today?

Leon stood silent for a moment, looking toward his bookcase. He seized the book in question, then came back with a smile.

\- Highly possible. I did collapse a few times and it took me all my strength to finish reading it. My eyes bled a bit too. A great read nonetheless,  although painful for the brain .

\- That’s good and all Leon, but you don’t have much time left. Are you sure you’d not prefer another drink instead of talking about this guy and his crazy books? I mean, it was a good bottle, I wouldn’t say no to another… 

\- I will offer some to you as well as my home, my Lady, do not worry. It is not much, but in case of need, you can come back here to seek refuge or solace, in peace, in my old house. And drink the wine in the cellar too.

He had a benevolent smile. It was no mystery to him that Calliope did love her wine. One of the multiple reasons which made so  much more human than a Reaper should be.

\- No, if I talk to you about this, and the reason I am happy you were the one to come reap my soul, is because this book mention you.

\- Me? But I’m just a small Reaper living in the Underworld…

\- And I’m an old retired soldier with a few bottle  of wine and some books. Yet I now assume the role of a Seer, giving  guidance to those swallowed up by Destiny.

\- A human giving guidance to a Reaper? You’ll have to pass that one by me again my man.

\- I know my Lady, this seems quite stupid. But trust me, I beseech you. Yours is not that simple of a fate. You will not forever be a Reaper, you will become so much more.

\- Very well, tell me what you have re a d in this strange book of yours.

\- As it is with all prophecies, all of it is quite muddled. Here is what I deciphered: “In a few centuries, a great War will shake the Underworld, as those who reap souls and those who consume them will fight in never seen  before numbers. At the center of the war, will one Reaper reach the origin of it all, and, passing  worlds , will enter the Empire of evil,  to kill it’s King. By her scythe, she will free the Guardian of Atlantis and the Princess of the Depths. She will seize the Old Ones and bring them to their temple, restoring their voices. Calling out for their champions, they will reunite, in years to come, allowing them to step once again on Earth through their Priestess. The Guardian, the Princess and the Priestess will then meet the Time-Traveler and the Reaper, and by the actions  of theses women  will the world be changed forever and ever, into something greater.”

Calliope listened to it all in silence, understanding mostly nothing of it.

\- Do you have any idea about this prophecy? Something to help me understand? I mean, wars in the Underworld with the Scavengers do happen, that’s the thing I’m not too worried about, but the rest? What the hell?

\- I do not know more than you do. It seems an evil Empire is rising as we speak, an d you will be its end. But when? I have no idea. As time-travel is mentioned, who knows, maybe this  is not a prophecy, but an account on something that you have already done, and noted here after coming back in the past ?  Maybe this book was written by you?

\- Okay stop, now you’re hurting my head, and it’s not because of the wine. Speaking of, give me another glass please.

-Right away.

They stayed silent for a moment, until Leon, sitting on his chair, started trembling, losing his balance. Calli rose instantly and went to him.

\- You okay man?

\- Ah...Right on time too...Listen to me my Lady. My body is at it’s limits. I am dying.

\- I know that you idiot, did you forget who and what I am? I can see your body self-destructing from its inside just by opening my eyes. You even have a damn counter above your head with the time you have left.

\- Oh well that’s convenient. Don’t tell me though, let’s keep it dramatic.

\- Okay. You’re a little weird you know Leon? Always wanted to tell you that.

\- The same for you, my Lady. Why would you even spend your free time with an idiot like me if you weren’t?

\- I’d reap your ass for that one if you weren’t already in the process of dying.

Leon laughed weakly.

\- My Lady Calliope… Thank you for the time you spent with me. I enjoyed each of our talks. Simply seeing, with my eyes, the proof of supernatural existence, was enough to give me strength. My Lady helped more than anything else could have after the loss of my family. Ironically, you made me feel alive.

\- That...Is a strange way to look at our relationship, for sure. But a friendship with a Reaper can only end one way, Leon. You know I must do this.

\- Will it… hurt?

\- It could, if I wanted it to. But you’re a good man, and my friend, so it won’t.

\- I was a soldier once. I killed. A lot. I’m not a good man.

\- Shut up, you’re still my friend you big idiot. I don’t care about the others, to me you’re a good man, and I’m the one doing the Reaping. So better get ready to take my big scythe in you.

\- Uh... now  wait a second…

\- Shut up I said! Don’t worry...It will be fast. Your wife is already waiting for you. She wanted you both to reincarnate together. She’s been waiting for you all these years.  We told her you were coming.

\- Emily… After all this time ?

\- Ready?

\-  Yes... Yes, my Lady.

Calli rose up on her feet and seized her scythe. It automatically deployed its blade, making it the fearsome weapon it was supposed to be.

\-  It was a pleasure to meet you, Leon. I wish your next life to be one of peace and joy. The Cycle thanks you for your soul.

In a swift move, she cut Leon’s body apart with her blade. And yet, the body was still intact, dead on the floor, as if it just stopped working suddenly. Another Leon, transparent, was impaled on the blade, looking around with curiosity.

\- Got your soul right and nicely. Let’s go back to the Underworld.

She took a last look at Leon’s body and his house, his books, his bottles of wine. She took one with her, as promised.

\- Thank you, Leon. For reminding me that I was more than a Reaper. I enjoyed our time together. Let’s go now, to your wife in the Underworld.

* * *

- Wake up, Cali. It’s time.

-Hmmm...Wozzat?

The visitor sighed, then closed on and looked at the mess. Calli was asleep in bed, her clothes having been sent flying randomly around. A few empty bottles evidently had been rolling on the floor.

\- Don’t tell me you’re drunk? Just before such an important mission?

\- I’m not druuuunk. I’m good I’m good. 

\-  The battle will begin soon, and you will have your opportunity to kill Atlas today. Don’t mess that up, Calliope. We have been wanting this man for centuries.  He’s defied us for too long.

\- Don’t worry Death-sensei, I’ll get him. Just… Let me find my clothes… And Scythe… Bottle?

\- Calliope… Can’t you be a bit more like your neighbor? He’s been reviewing his equipment all night.

\- And preventing me to sleep with his damn bike. Fuck Ghostrider. I’m fine like I am.

Death let out a sigh, then went out of Calli’s room with a last warning.

-Just be careful. This man is dangerous. He seems to be the author of this Great Hunt.  He’s mingling with matters from the Underworld. Who knows what he has behind his back.

* * *

\- Go go go, chase them! Run them down!

Feeling impatient, the Reaper was tapping rapidly on the skeletal shoulder of his pilot. Sitting in the side-car, his Scythe in hand, a burning cigar in his mouth and wearing shades, he was looking at the innumerable Scavengers swarming around in the big plain of the Underworld, in front of him. Along him and is skeleton driver, dozens of other Reapers were riding too, ready to fight, all showing a big fat smile.

Regularly in the Underworld, several decades in a while, what was called a Great Hunt happened. It was a time where the Scavengers appeared in greater number than usual, and started building nests in the Underworld, where they started to reproduce. Scavengers needed to capture and devour a soul to then lay dozens of eggs and reproduce, making it incredibly hard to hunt them all down. A single lost souls could easily produce thirty Scavengers, that would all hunt their own souls and reproduce, and you’d end up with a nest in a few weeks. 

The Great Hunt was the epitome of this principle. Despite all of the Reapers efforts, a lot of souls get lost and eaten at some point, and when the number of Scavengers reach a critical point, the y  unite and rush toward more food: the Reapers Headquarters.

Calli was watching  on a hill  as several battalions of Reapers rode into battle on their bikes, waving their scythes around. She wasn’t worried: Reapers can not die a definitive death, and they can’t be devoured either.  Wounds still hurts, but apart from that it’s no danger. As such, Great Hunts are actually a perfect way to train the young Reapers by throwing them into a real fight. Calli herself did participate to a few of those when she was younger and eager for action.

Sitting on her black leather saddle, her bike roaring by itself, as if impatient to jump in battle, she looked at the situation. Fire was burning around, either because of the extreme power of the motorcycles laying flames being them, or the extremely powerful Scythguns the new technologically equipped Reapers used: on one side you have the Scythe, on the other you have a massive shotgun throwing fireballs everywhere. As time passes and technology grows, so does the savagery of the Reapers.

Still, something didn’t sit quite well with Calli. She had seen countless Great Hunts before, but this one was unusual. It was too soon, for once. The last Great Hunt happened barely twenty years ago, and there was more than ten times the number or Scavengers. The ugly creatures were absolutely everywhere, but seemed to come from the same direction. Calli had spent the entire day going against the flow with a small group, their bikes roaring through the defensive lines of the monsters, Scythes sending heads flying around. 

Now, from the hill, she could catch a breath. The rest of her team was going back to help the main army. Even her neighbor, a skeleton dressed in black leather with a shotgun, was driving back, waving happily at her while making his bike roar loudly. She intended to do the rest alone: she had a nagging suspicion that this moment was for her and her alone. The unusual Hunt reminded her of the discussion she had a few centuries ago with Leon when she came to reap him, and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. The creatures were coming from somewhere this time, and this somewhere had to be closed.  The prophecy did say that Calli had to reach the center of this great war, and now, the center was in sight: a great breach in the air from which more and more Scavengers poured from.  Surely from her target’s hands, Atlas.

\- No choice but to go all in, I guess. Okay, you drop me in and run back home once you’re done. Understood?

She gave a pat to her bike, which roared slowly, flames coming out of its exhaust, and even neighed with impatience. As technology evolved, most Reapers traded their skeletal horses for a motorbike, but it didn’t mean they abandoned their mounts: the soul of the horse had simply been implanted into the bike. That way, the bike could also move by itself as would a horse. It was quite the exciting new era for Reapers!

-Okay. Here we go.

Calli tied her long pink hair in a ponytail. She had changed body for a new, fresh human one. She was pleased having found this one: smooth skin, beautiful face, nice long hair, relatively tall and athletic… Her breasts were a bit too generous though, but she managed.

She put on her dark  sunglasses in front of her bright burning red eyes, stimulated from the call of war,  then  lit a c igarette  and started driving right toward the swarm. Meeting the beasts from the side, most were surprised and did not expected battle here, making it easy for her to pierce their defenses.  Most didn’t even see her, focused on the Reaper army.

She managed to get close to the portal, but at some point the sheer number of Scavengers was so big it became impossible to go on. She jumped from her bike as it turned around and went full speed toward home  and the rising sun , and as she landed on the ground in a roll, she seized her Scythe, raising her arm high.

\- Time for carnage. You’ll let me pass one way or another.

She rushed toward her first target, seized her cigarette and plunged it in the sole eye of the beast, making it scream in pain. Using his head as a step, she jumped above him in the air, made her Scythe swirl in her hand and made it so the handle was pointing toward the ground – and the beasts. 

Of course, technology was something Calli liked too. Of course, her Scythe had been upgraded too. So, of course, when she pressed the trigger, the massive shotgun not affixed to the handle started firing madly, shooting clusters of explosives projectiles, ruining the area, sending bits of monsters flying around in a shower of gore.

Calli fell on the ground with a wet noise. Still smiling, her eyes as red as blood, she threw  a punch right in the face of a beast near her, which emitted a small yelp and preferred to play dead, then started running forward, toward the portal. It was near now, and only a few dozens monsters separated her from it.

What followed would have been an excellent demonstration for young Reapers in the arts  of Scythe-swinging . Calli always had been a good teacher, and always enjoyed helping the young Reapers to learn. With the way she moved and fought, with the way each strike of her Scythe had just enough force to pierce the body, but not go too far into the ground  and stay stuck , from the way she alternated a bladed strike with a move and a shotgun blast, with the way she retracted in defensive position to reload her gun, then extended like a flower opening to welcome the sun, although the only thing she welcomed was death, with all of this she could have inspired legions of little Reapers to take her as an example.

It didn’t take long. In a few minutes, the area around the portal was clear, apart from a few Scavengers still coming through. But she wasn’t there to clean them all up, the Reapers army would do that in time. She was to go though and close the portal, and so she did.

Going through felt, actually, simply like walking through a door. She was in the Underworld, and in a second she was in a room made of stone, and, apparently, underwater. Windows of what may be glass, but reinforced by an unknown  crystalline  component, allowed her to see the sea  floor, the fishes and more. She was back on Earth.  Voices resonated in her mind.

\-  _You. Reaper. You’re here, as was foretold._

-Yeah,  well what wasn’t foretold was that I’d land in the middle of a hatchery. Give me a minute please,  whatever you are .

Scythe in hand, ammunition loaded, Calli was looking at the situation: she was surrounded by young Scavengers  and eggs . What were those things doing out of the Underworld?  Was Atlas, the leader of this place, breeding them?  The portal was still open above her head, but most of the creatures seemed more interested in Calli than in it.

\- Well, for moments like this…

She put the handle of her Scythe toward the monsters, loading the shotgun with incendiary ammo. She step back a bit and started blasting away. In less than a minute, most of the room around here was burning, eggs or Scavengers alike, and the fire was spreading to the thousands of other eggs further in the depths of the room. This should stop this Great Hunt for good.

Satisfied, Calli opened a pocket from her cloak, seized a cigar and lit it up with a flame burning a dying Scavenger. Smoking it with a big smile, her Scythe in hand, wearing  her  black shades, she took a moment to appreciate  the situation . Damn, was she hot and badass!

- _If you’re done being awesome, can_ _we_ _remind you of your purpose here?_

- Hm? Oh t he voices, you’re that book Leon told me about right? And Atlas to kill, right . So where am I going?

- _In the next room. Take the door behind you and…_

Calli did so instantly, opening the door, entering the small corridor then opening the second door. She got inside the room with a smile and was welcomed warmly with a powerful fist in her face. She felt a terrible jolt of pain as she was thrown back to the entrance of the room, her sunglasses broken, her cigar falling to the ground, and herself rolling around along her Scyt h e.

She let out a whimper of pain, then rose up again, taking back her weapon in hand. Her face was burning with pain. This was not a simple punch. She looked around.

On her left was nothing but a wall, a bed, and a  closet. On her right, things were a bit more interesting: a beautiful woman with orange hair was held,  unconscious, against the wall by some sort of dark, purple tentacles, preventing her from moving. To Calli’s eyes, which could see the flow of magic, she could understand an intense drain was going on, the power of the girl absorbed by the tentacle  toward the depths of the city  of Atlantis .  Because it was, in fact, where she had finally landed. Atlantis, the city of Myths.

A closer look on the girl with orange  hairs revealed to Calli that she was not only a prisoner, but also a lot more than simply human. She felt a natural rejection while looking at her, which felt strange since her beauty was actually quite mesmerizing. But that rejection was for a good reaso n : this woman was a phoenix! For a Reaper, there was no bigger joke to their authority than the Phoenix, immortal, cheating death forever and ever. Simply seeing one was enough to make her blood boil. Still,  Phoenixes and their immortality are a powerful tool for a dangerous magician like Atlas, the “immortal King” of Atlantis. Here was  why he had become undying .

In front of her, in fact, was Atlas, the origin of the attack she took in the face. It must have been a magic punch to hurt her like this. The old man was looking at her with rage.

-What did you do to my nursery, woman? I’ll grind you to dust!

-I’d like to see you try, your Majesty. What about a little duel? The loser got to the Underworld with  my Scythe in is  royal  ass. You in?

Atlas’s face burned bright in rage and he started draining power from his prisoner, which emitted cries of pain, as he launched Phoenix fire from his hands. Even Calli had to be cautious of this type of fire and she couldn’t attack as much as she wanted. She did manage to find some openings, but mostly hit the ground, the walls and the bed with her attacks,  damaging them greatly with fiery slashes .

\-  _Keep him occupied, Reaper. We will wake the Phoenix. Kill Atlas when he weakens._

\- Okay  voices , will do. Will try at least.

The battle went on for a few minutes, Atlas using  M agik attacks and Phoenix fire, damaging the room even more than Calli and her wild swings.  Finally, the girl moved a bit, her eyes opening slowly. A jet of Phoenix Fire stopped suddenly from Atlas’s hands. For a small instant, he was surprised and looked at his hands, breaking concentration,  then he looked at the chained dark book floating in the air behind him. 

-You! Old Ones! You dare betray me?

This was enough. A second later, Calli was on him, her Scythe buried deep in Atla’s torso. 

-Long Live the King,  bitch, smirked Calli.

The Phoenix was still imprisoned but had now regained conscience and was watching the events unfolds. Also, she was watching Calli and blushing quite a lot. Atlas answered back to Calli, blood flowing from his mouth.

\- Impossible… Impossible! I’m immortal! You can’t!

\- Tough luck man. I’m Death, and I say that your time has come. No matter how much you cheat your way, everything has an end at some point. Yours is now.

Atlas let out a madman laugh as he coughed blood.

\- Hahaha! Death! The Reaper itself! Of course, nothing else could ever stop me, Death had to step in, that is how powerful I am!

\- How powerful you were, you mean? Anyway, time to go, you’re expected in the Underworld.

The Reaper pulled back the Scythe, and the Master fell on the ground, a large puddle of blood forming under his body. He raised a hand weakly and managed to say:

\- Be careful, Reaper. The Book spoke of this, of you. Are you familiar with it? “And with strange aeons even death may die”. There are several interpretations of this phrase, but you may want to watch your back…

On these words, the Master died, and so Calli did accomplish her mission. But there was more left to do. The book was calling to her. She started walking toward it, but she felt a disturbance: the Phoenix girl was literally devouring her with her eyes.

\- Uh… It’s going to be a hard one to deal with right? Calli whispered to herself.

*

\- A KISS! A DAMN KISS! The fuck, is this girl crazy or what?

\- _Do understand Reaper, she has been a prisoner for centuries. Her mind is fragile, in need of companionship. Also…_

\- What? Out with it!

\- _We_ _read “Love at first sight” in her mind when she was looking at you. You might want to know._

Calli covered her face with her hand, hiding her red cheeks behind her long pink hairs. She let out a sigh and continued walking toward the surface.

\- No matter, I’ll… I guess I’ll go see her back when she wakes up in the future. Just in case, you know. She seemed weak and may need help to escape.

\- _You are allowed to say you are worried for her and care for her._

\- Shut up! I don’t know her, it just doesn’t feel good with me to leave someone in danger alone like that!

Climbing the stairs of the underwater tower with the chained book in her hands, Calli wondered for how long she would have to be there. She longed for a rest in her home in the Underworld. Maybe a quick buy at the Inconvenience store for some cheap wine, a meal, then a night of drinking games with the bros. She sighed again. Her face was still hurting from the punch, her coat was covered in dust, blood and Scavenger fluids of dubious origin. Her sunglasses were broken, her last cigar flattened on the ground when she fell on it, and she even broke a few of the pointy shark teeth on the right shoulder of her coat, making her look a lot less like a boss. Oh, and she needed to buy fuel for her bike, poor dear was pretty thirsty. What a shitty day.

-...And on top of that I got kissed by a nymphomaniac Phoenix. Am I supposed to send her flowers or something? What the fuck, I don’t know anything about that crap.

\- _Reaper,_ _we_ _think you can put this question to rest for the next hundred years._ _We_ _don’t see her waking up and escaping before year 2019._

\- That far? Okay, okay. Maybe she’ll have forgotten about me then.

Calli opened the final door and walked on solid land, back on the surface, having just exited a small stone room on a beach, which in fact was the top of a massive underwater tower leading right to Atlantis. She was now standing on a small island in the midst of other around her.

\- Okay Book, from now on you’re guiding me. I don’t know anything about all this mojo you’re doing, where do I go?

\- _Do you not have hesitation of freeing a talking Book able to see in the mind of even a Reaper, and responsible for the rise and fall of mighty Atlantis?_

\- Well yes a little, but a good friend of mine once told me about this in a vision. Said it was fine and “my Destiny”. Also, he had good wine, a good man all around. Go on, I’ll follow, I want to go home.

\- _Very well. Things would be a lot easier for us if humans were as compliant and easy to convince to work for us as you are. Well then, look to your right, toward the biggest island. You must go there. There lies a temple of stone, and inside, an altar._

\- Let me guess, I will have to fight the guardians of the temple and steal the treasure on the altar?

- _...No, you just need to go to the altar and put us back on it, then you’re done._

\- Talk about a letdown…

\- _This altar was where we were supposed to rest while waiting for the next Priestess to hold us. This is our place of power. Here, we will gain in strength and some day, free the Phoenix, the Princess of Atlantis too, and call the Priestess to us. Then Atlantis will be abandoned for good, forever._

-And I’m just a goddamn taxi in all of this. Oh well, less headaches for me. Is there a bridge or something so I don’t have to swim?

\- _There isn’t._

-Figures.

* * *

*

\- _We thank you, Reaper Calliope. We are now back to our altar and will prepare for our awakening. We shall see you again someday._

\- You will? I admit I have no idea what happens now, the prophecy didn’t go that far into details.

\- _You have done what you had to do in this place, but you have more to do_ _before going back home to your Reaper duties._ _There is a message you have to deliver, an important message that will shape your future, of other and your own._

\- Now I’m a mailwoman? Okay okay, wait a moment.

Calli opened one of her multiples pockets and managed to bits of an old journal. She managed to gather a mostly white sheet of paper.

\- What do I write?

\-  _A letter. Write what we tell you, then you are free to go back to the Underworld, with our thanks._

* * *

_*_

A melia was unsure how to continue her investigation. She had worked hard to find leads toward the strange events occurring in the world, but the paranormal is something that is too easily redirected toward the mad and the delirious. Or sometimes, when it is mentioned by women like herself, as something that is used to attract attention toward herself. Due to this, Amelia was in a pinch: it was almost impossible now to gather more information about the Old Ones and any being of supernatural origin. She wanted to try traveling to other countries, but she was on a budget. She needed to resolve more case to make more money before she could fund her little obsession.

She jumped when somebody knocked on her door. She had been lost in thoughts and didn’t hear her mother coming.

\- Yes ma’?

\- Letter for you Amy. Scotland Yard. More work?

\- Maybe, I'll read that thanks!

She took the letter and looked at it. She wasn’t waiting for any letter, work or not. This was interesting. She checked the sender, but although the name was quite exotic, she knew of no Calliope Mori. She opened the letter and received several documents in hand. She started reading the main letter.

_To Madam Amelia_ _Watson,_

_We do not know of each other, but in time, we will. For now, I am directed by another to write to you. This third party knows of you and your search for the truth, and wishes to help you. He knows of_ _three_ _person_ _s_ _who hold the answers you seek. Look for these three girls: Ninomae Ina’Nis, Gawr Gura, Takanashi Kiara. You may consult_ _the other documents to know where you can find them, but most importantly, “when”. Once you have contacted them_ _and reunited them_ _, you may find me at the address mentioned down below. The five of us have a meeting with Destiny._

_ C alliope Mori _

Amelia looked at the address in question. Reaching it would be no issue, physically, but the time would be : more than a century later in 2020. Impossible for anyone…But her. She grinned as she grasped her watch, her very own time machine. 

Looking at the other girl’s information, all of them would be available in the span of an hour, all in 2020, and this Calliope would then wait for Amelia to bring them all in the same place. And once those five would be united, all in Japan on the  12 September  2020, something would happen. But what could it be?

She looked at the info again. A Phoenix? A Reaper? A shark woman and Princess of Atlantis? And an ex-human, not yet born, to become Priestess of the Old ones? This sure was a mission for a time-traveling detective like her!

Dressing up, Amelia Watson gathered all the data and prepared for her first jump in the future. How exciting!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks a lot to everyone who reads the story, I hope you enjoyed it and had a good time!  
> With this one, the fourth chapter of my series is done. It has been several months since I wrote about the girls, and especially for Calli, the chapter has taken a long time to write itself in my mind. If you were waiting for it earlier I sincerely apologize, it is not easy to write when I want to, and I also have a massive project on the side that takes most of my focus related to writing. I did not expect to finish this series at all for some time. I'm really glad I managed to write for Calli (she's my favorite in Holomyth!, love all the girls though!) but I'm still unsure about the final chapter for our beloved Watson. She's appeared in every chapter at least a little so in a way, each chapter has been partially for Watson, so who knows if I'll find something for her ?  
> For now, the series is mostly finished, but I'll leave it open in case I have a Watson inspiration!  
> Thanks again!


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